


Sweet Relief

by treewhisker



Category: Akatsuki no Yona | Yona of the Dawn
Genre: Afterlife, Character Death, Death from Old Age, Dragons, Gen, Gore, Illness, Mild Gore, Old Age, Sickness, its actually positive, ouryuu is nice, theoretical afterlife
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-25
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 03:52:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,434
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15788385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treewhisker/pseuds/treewhisker
Summary: It’s been fifty years.





	Sweet Relief

**Author's Note:**

> my first AkaYona work.   
> I just want Zeno to be happy.

Every journey comes to an end eventually.

 

That doesn’t mean Zeno would be happy about it.

* * *

 

Sitting beside his King’s bedside, Zeno weeped.

 

His King, old and gray, held his hand with the grace of someone raised into royalty. She had a faint smile on her face, and her eyes were soft, the youthful gleam she held never fading even as she gained wrinkles and liver spots.

 

While his brothers and King aged, Zeno remained ever stagnant.

 

Zeno had been trying not to think about it.

 

But, after fifty years, it had finally caught up to him fully.

 

* * *

 

For an immortal, fifty years tends to flash by in a blink. This is true for Zeno, but at the same time, some spots slowed to a near stop, simultaneously extremely fast and extremely slow.

 

Yoon’s slow and sad descent was the first of these spots.

 

The boy was still young, at the tender age of 20, when he caught an illness. No matter who tended to him, no matter what they tried, no matter how much they prayed and begged, Yoon simply would not get better. He withered away, growing frailer by the day, until, just past his twenty first birthday, he passed in the midst of a violent seizure.

 

Jae-ha was the next.

 

He lived very long for a dragon. Zeno had steeled himself for the inevitable, but when it didn’t happen right away… he grew complacent. He allowed himself to fully attach. And then, when Jae-ha reached fifty, he suddenly and inexplicably died. With no medical expert, they couldn’t help him. And so he went.

 

The worst, or perhaps the best, part was finding that, despite searching and searching within, none of the remaining three could feel the next green dragon. Yona had insisted on visiting Jae-ha’s village, the location of which only Zeno knew, and so they went.

 

When they arrived, scorn met them.

 

And there was no Ryokuryuu to chain to the earth.

 

Dearest Shin-ah died soon after an attack, the brunt of the attack hitting him as he shoved Yona out of the line of fire. Shin-ah’s beautiful eyes were cooked with acid, and Zeno could still hear his pained screech, even now. Yona had scars on her arms as a reminder, the burns unsightly but never hidden.

 

And when Kija reached out for the new Seiryuu, no presence met him. Zeno found he couldn’t sense Seiryuu either.

 

At Yona’s request, their small group went to Seiryuu Village, only to find them packing up to leave. The elders smiled upon the news of Seiryuu’s death, for no curse returned to them in the form of a child.

 

There was no Seiryuu to hide away.

 

Kija lasted the longest, his vitality reminiscent of Guen. The Hakuryuu died of old age, having never taken a wife nor husband, and having never borne a child. The white dragon, as he said, was repulsed by such things. His family was enough.

 

Yona’s admittedly small troupe, weary and grieving, traveled to the village of Hakuryuu.

 

No hand.

 

Weeping people.

 

There was no Hakuryuu to protect and worship.

 

* * *

 

Hak was the last to go, and perhaps part of the reason Zeno was here now, alongside his King, whose spark faded with each passing moment.

 

Hak was strong, immeasurably so. No matter what, nothing brought the Raijuu, their Ankokuryuu, down for long. Alas, his body caught up with him. Despite being a healthy lad, Mundok had warned Zeno that Hak may not live past his seventies, at most. The genes, the elder stated, while Hak was spritely in his thirties, that Hak was born with would not thrive for too many years.

 

Elder Mundok was right. A month prior, Hak had succumbed to a heart attack. What an anticlimactic end for a blazing man like Hak. The boy had lamented his growing old, having wanted to die in battle nobly for his Queen.

 

His Queen wouldn’t be far behind.

 

* * *

 

Zeno’s eyes were clouded with tears, choking sobs escaping him. Yona, staying in her lying position, caressed his face feather-lightly. “Zeno,” She said quietly, her aged vocal cords soft and sweet.

 

“Y-Yes, my King?” Zeno asked, almost choking out his response. He didn’t think he could handle watching his King die twice.

 

“Let’s meet again above the stars, okay?” Yona softly commanded, the tone leaving no room for argument despite them both knowing it wouldn’t happen.

 

Zeno wheezed a laugh, her words almost perfectly echoing his beloved wife’s, and she laughed with him. But… her laugh devolved into coughs, then hacks. Zeno, terrified, rubbed her back and helped her lie on her side.

 

Yona fell asleep.

 

And never woke up.

 

* * *

 

Seated beside his King’s bed, feeling her hand go cold beneath his own, was too much for Zeno to bear. He closed his eyes, and simply cried.

 

* * *

 

Zeno didn’t know how long he sat there. At some point, his tears stopped, his breathing evened. And when he opened his eyes, it was simply night.

 

**Ba-dump.**

 

Clutching his chest, Zeno gave a loud, coughing wheeze.

 

**Ba-dump.**

 

Looking down to his hand, which was holding the area above his heart, he saw his hands beginning to rapidly wrinkle and crease, bones becoming prominent.

 

**Ba………dump…**

 

Zeno cried out in surprise and, honestly, fear. He grabbed the mirror Yona had been gifted by Lili, and gazed upon himself.

 

**Ba………dump…**

 

Hair, once yellow, was quickly becoming gray, and then white. Youthful eyes gained crinkles and crow’s feet. Plump cheeks hollowed out and wrinkled.

 

**Ba…………dump……**

 

Zeno laughed, joy overtaking his fear. He jumped, the sound of his joints angrily popping and the feeling of pain in his back being borderline blissful. It was happening! It was happening!

 

**Ba-**

_**hik** _

**dump…**

 

Kneeling by his dead King’s bedside, Zeno took her hand in his. The dragon could already feel his heart slowing to a stop.

 

**B-Ba-Badump-**

 

A smile graced his face, genuine and soft, and his heart beat its last, over two thousand years late.

 

* * *

 

_Zeno’s eyes blinked open. He sat up, not having realized he was sitting. Looking around the grassy field he found himself in, he saw a head of black hair in the distance. And when they turned…_

_“ **Kaya**!” Zeno shrieked, running to her and jumping into her arms. They both fell into the grass, crying and laughing at once. He kissed all over her face, caressing it and turning it this way and that to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. “I thought I’d never see you again.”_

_“Silly!” She giggled, kissing him on the mouth sweetly. “I knew you would come back to me!”_

_“Oi! Zeno!” Confused, Zeno turned, coming face to face with a white claw, which knocked him back down to the grass._

_“Guen!” He cheered, and then looked behind his dear friend. “Abi and Shuten, too?!” Scrambling to his feet, Zeno brought all of them in for an embrace, just like when they separated all of those years before. A true reunion._

_A soft presence enveloped them, and Zeno peeked out from his much-needed hug._

_“H-Hiryuu! My King!” Zeno cried, and Hiryuu was the one to initiate the hug, not allowing Zeno to see the regret in his eyes._

_“Zeno, my Ouryuu. I’m sorry for leaving you for so long. Welcome home,” Hiryuu smiled at him, gently kissing Zeno’s forehead. “But some people have been waiting for you.”_

_Watching as Hiryuu pointed to the denser area of grass, Zeno followed his direction, and his breath caught in his throat as he saw his new family, his Hungry Bunch._

_Zeno met them halfway, spinning Yona and giving as many hugs to his friends as he possibly could. He held Yoon for a particularly long time, the lad’s protests being half-hearted. Ik-soo watched fondly._

_Zeno’s families, new and old, gathered around him._

_And for the life of him, Zeno couldn’t stop crying._

 

* * *

 

 

When the attendants found them, an ancient skeleton cracked with age held the hand of their dearly departed Queen.

 

—

Bonus

—

 

**Ouryuu watched from the sky, bittersweet happiness filling their heart. No matter how much the guilt ate them, they would enjoy watching this. It didn’t matter that Zeno might resent them. It just mattered that Zeno, their son, their brother, their kin, was free.**

**They could feel their own siblings calling, beckoning them with their minds. But they would stay and watch for a little longer.**

**After so long, after so much sadness and guilt, they could finally release their hold on Zeno. Nothing made them more relieved.**

**And nothing would ever make them as happy as they were now, watching their kin with his families.**


End file.
